DAVID O'Leary has revealed that he will put teenage centre-back Gary Cahill firmly under the microscope in Saturday's pre-season friendly at Wolves.

DAVID O'Leary has revealed that he will put teenage centre-back Gary Cahill firmly under the microscope in Saturday's pre-season friendly at Wolves.

The Villa boss was impressed by Liam Ridgewell's display in Tuesday's 3-3 draw against GAIS, and now wants to see how 19-year-old Cahill performs under pressure.

The loss of Martin Laursen to likely knee surgery has got O'Leary racing against the clock as he searches for defensive solutions.

He said: "I'm going to play Cahill for 90 minutes on Saturday to see what he's made of in a real test.

"I left him out on Tuesday because I want to play people for 90 minutes instead of bringing them on in bits and pieces.

"I want to keep people on to gain their fitness and I want Gary Cahill to have the same thing.

"He knows he will play 90 minutes against Wolves. Let's see what he is about in a proper game.

"It will be a good test for him against Carl Cort who is a big target man. That will tell us what he's about."

Cahill insists he is ready for the challenge after impressing so far during pre-season.

"I hope to make it into the team," he said. "I came back from Burnley not expecting to walk straight into the team and play 38 Premiership games.

"But I'd like to think I can make that step up and show what I can do.

"I've got experience under my belt from playing in the Championship and now it's just a case of making that step up.

"For me, playing alongside John McGreal and against better strikers was excellent for me - that all brought me on as a player. "I'm far from the finished article at the moment, so I want to push on again this year."

Cahill insists his future will remain at Villa, although he admits that he may end up going back out on loan to continue his footballing education.

"Going out on loan again is something we'll probably know about in time," he said.

"Whether the manager thinks I'm a little bit young or not is his decision.

"If I was sent out on loan again then I'd just have to deal with that and hopefully do even better than before.

"Long term I see my future at Villa. Hopefully things go well this season and I can look forward to playing some games.

"Playing with people like Patrik Berger and Nobby Solano is fantastic - they've been top pros who've been playing in the top flight for a number of years, which can only bring me on as a player."

He continued: "Ninety minutes against Wycombe and Gallstad can only do me good.

"It's part of my game to be comfortable on the ball.

"But it makes you relaxed when you play with better players in your side and at Villa, there are quality players everywhere.

"That's made it easier and by training with the lads all pre-season, I've got to know them.

"They're all helping me settle down and they're all good lads. The younger lads in the squad have been involved last season whereas I've just come into it.

"But the more experienced lads such as Mark Delaney and Gavin McCann who have done it for years have been there for me as well.''

* Villa have announced they will replace any new-season shirts purchased by supporters which bear the name of departed striker Darius Vassell.